CASE REPORT article
Front. Ethol.
Sec. Applied Ethology and Sentience
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancing Marine Mammal Welfare Through Ethological Insights: Behavioral Responses to Stressors in Wild, Rehabilitation, and Managed Care SettingsView all articles
The 'dolphin of Venice': management of a solitary bottlenose dolphin in the Venetian Lagoon
Provisionally accepted
Giovanni Bearzi1,2
Sandro Mazzariol3,4
Luca Mizzan5
Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara6Marco Bonato3,7
Luca Ceolotto3
Guido Pietroluongo3*- 1Dolphin Biology and Conservation, Cordenons PN, Italy, Cordenons PN, Italy
- 2OceanCare, Wädenswil, Switzerland, Wädenswil, Switzerland
- 3Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food, School of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Padua, Legnaro, Italy
- 4Interuniversity Center for Cetacean Research (CIRCE), Genova, Italy, Genova, Italy
- 5Natural History Museum 'Giancarlo Ligabue', Venice, Italy, Venice, Italy
- 6Tethys Research Institute, Milan, Italy
- 7Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare, Rome, Italy
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A solitary bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus entered the Venetian Lagoon and was monitored between June–December 2025. After roaming the lagoon for three months, it settled in Venice, with a preference for waters adjacent to San Marco Square – one of the world's busiest tourist destinations – where it was consistently observed feeding on mullet (Mugilidae). The Venetian Lagoon was historically part of the range of Adriatic dolphins, but such records have been rare since the 1970s. The 'Venice dolphin' soon became a celebrity, resulting in people attempting to feed, touch and interact with the animal, as well as guided tours and erratic approaches by boats. Such inappropriate behaviour by humans increased disturbance, and the risk of propeller/boat strikes and habituation to human proximity. Following evidence of disturbance and lesions, in November 2025 an attempt was made to drive the dolphin away from the high-risk waters of the San Marco Basin using boats and acoustic deterrents. However, the dolphin immediately returned. Here, we report on the monitoring efforts and actions undertaken, review the relevant regulations, and discuss the options of 1) acoustic deterrence, 2) capture/removal, and 3) tolerance combined with best management practice. We argue that the occurrence of such a charismatic animal could serve as a model for human-wildlife coexistence in urban environments, demanding compliance with existing laws, area-specific measures, appropriate implementation and patrolling, resolute deterrence of inappropriate human behaviour, continued monitoring, and efforts to promote the type of social change that leads to widespread appreciation of, and respect for, wildlife.
Keywords: Acoustic deterrence, Adriatic sea, Animal Welfare, coexistence, conservation, Interaction, Management, solitary dolphins
Received: 18 Dec 2025; Accepted: 08 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Bearzi, Mazzariol, Mizzan, Notarbartolo di Sciara, Bonato, Ceolotto and Pietroluongo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Guido Pietroluongo
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